MEMBERS of Malvern Hills and Wychavon councils will next week vote on contentious plans to merge their senior management teams.

Leaders of the two councils say the move could save hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time when local government budgets are becoming increasingly tight.

But opposition councillors at Malvern Hills are worried about the loss of staff and the possible bill for redundancy payouts.

There are currently nine senior managers in both councils but the plan is to cut that number to six, saving each council £140,000 a year.

Cllr Tom Wells, who leads the council's Lib Dem group, said: "I think that for some time I have believed that Malvern Hills is top heavy, so I broadly support the proposal.

"However, I will be very concerned if the redundancy settlements exceed the national statutory minimums. The public have reacted angrily to golden handshakes for previous senior managers."

Cllr John Raine, Green councillor on Malvern Hills said: “I don’t think that this is a surprise to anyone. It’s fair to say that the appointment of Jack Hegarty as joint chief executive has worked very well, with Mr Hegarty devoting a lot of time to Malvern, but we can’t continue shedding staff without any consequences.”

Cllr Phil Grove, leader of Malvern Hills, said: “Despite facing severe cuts to our funding, we’ve made a commitment to protect front line services as much as we possibly can. That requires us to look at measures such as this.

“The important thing is we remain separate organisations and it will continue to be Malvern Hills councillors setting the priorities and making the decisions.”

Cllr Linda Robinson, leader of Wychavon, said: “We’ve already demonstrated how sharing senior management can benefit both organisations as well as save money and this seems the next logical step.

“We have a very talented group of staff who I’m confident will be able to manage the changes to ensure the needs of Wychavon residents continue to be met and crucially, the decision-making will still be done by Wychavon councillors.”

The two councils have already saved £190,000 by sharing a chief executive/managing director, head of paid service, head of housing and planning and head of economic development.

It is hoped the changes will be made through voluntary redundancies, which could cost an estimated £220,000.

The money will come from a government grant both councils received to transform the way they work, not from money to run services.

The plan has been put forward as part of the councils’ response a drop in funding of 53 per cent since 2010/11, with further cuts expected in the chancellor’s autumn statement.

Councillors will vote on the proposal at Malvern Hills on Tuesday, October 20, and Wychavon the next day. If approved, it is expected to take 12 to 18 months to implement the plan.